Fire fighting apparatus



Dec. 18, 1962 D. A. scHULER 3,069,100

FIRE FIGHTING APPARATUS FiledDec. 14, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORDONALD A. SCHULER I?. I\ I l I I I l l l I l l I l l l I l I l I I l IIl www I II Il AT TORNEY nite States ice 3,069,100 FIRE FllGi-ITENGAPEARAEUS Donald A. chuler, Monticello, Wis. Filed Dec. 14, 1959, Ser.No. 859,277 1 tliaiin. (fil. 239-522) This invention relates to refighting apparatus, and in particular relates to devices and proceduresfor establishing water Walls to prevent the spread of fires.

One of the principal concerns of fire-fighters is to prevent the spreadof a fire to a nearby building, or to another portion of a building thatis burning. Often as much or more fire-ghting equipment and manpower isused to prevent the spread of the lire to other buildings, or otherareas of the same building, as is used in extinguishing the initialfire. Thus, under present practices, it is common to find a number ofhoses spraying water on nearby buildings to keep them wet and lessignitable.

It is an object of my invention to produce apparatus which will providea wall of water practically to eliminate the spread of fire from onebuilding to another, and to prevent spreading of fire within the samebuilding.

An additional object of my invention is to pro-duce lire-lightingapparatus which is easily portable, both when in use and when not inuse.

Another object of my invention is to produce tirefighting apparatuswhich is self-supporting and reduces the number of men and the amount ofequipment required for the same protection under present practices.

A further object of my invention is to produce permanently installedlire-lighting apparatus for use in industrial plants warehouses or otherrelatively large buildings.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent Y from the followingdescription and the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my invention in a porable formillustrating the water wall that is formed thereby.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of my invention without the hose connectionand water.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of my invention.

FIG. 4 is a rear plan view of my invention.

FIG. 5 is a top plan View of my invention illustrating its use inpreventing the spread of a fire from one structure to another.

FlG. 6 is a top plan view of my invention illustrating its use inpreventing the spread of a fire to other areas of the building in whichthe fire has started.

FlG. 7 is a schematic view of my invention illustrating a permanentinstallation of a system for preventing the spread of iire in a factory,warehouse or similar structure.

In the drawing, numeral 9 indicates the water -wall device in itsentirety, with an angle iron 1@ having a flat side or base 11 resting onthe ground or floor 12 and the other side member 13 in verticalposition. Spray plate 14 having strips 15 and 16 of substantially thesame thickness as side member 13, see FIG. 3, welded thereto to form aV, whereby the angle at the vertex is approximately 90. While somevariation of this angle may be made I have found that a 90 angle forstrips 15 and 16 provides for an effective and efficient spread of thewater in the formation of a water wall. Such strips are of approximatelythe same thickness as side 13 of angle iron 10 and their lower edges 17and 1S terminate at and are welded to the upper edge 19 of side 13 asshown in FIG. 4.

A conventional hose coupling 29 is welded to side 13 of angle iron l@and to strips 15 and 16, so that the only escape for water enteringcoupling 20 is through slot 21 formed by strips 15 and 16, spray plate14, and the upper portion 22 of coupling 26. Coupling 2t) has the usualthreaded member 23 for ready connection to hose 24.

Handles 25 may be secured to angle iron 10 for carrying or moving theunit as desired.

ln the drawings, spray plate 14 is shown attached to the outside of side13. Spray plate 14 may also be welded to the inside of side 13, so longas water passing through coupling 20 is forced between strips 15 and 16and through slot 21.

FIG. 7 is illustrative of a permanent installation of such devices 9 inan industrial plant, Warehouse or other building. Parallel rows 26 ofdevice 9 may be installed into the floor of the building in a manner tosend up a wall of water 29, the water from each such device overlappingthat from the next adjacent device. Other rows 27 of the device may beinstalled into the floor to provide a wall of water 29 substantiallyperpendicular to the wall of water of rows 26. Conventional automatic ormanual controls may be used for turning on the water, either for theentire building or for specified areas or blocks 23 within the building.

in operation, fire hose 24 extending from the fire engine pumper (notshown) is connected to coupling 23. The pumper valve is opened forcingwater or other fire extinguishing liquid 29 through hose 24 and throughslot Z1 of water wall device 9. The water sprays upward and outward infan-shape fashion as shown in FIG. 1 by reason of the angle of thejunction of strips 15 and 16. As the water passes upward under pressurethrough slot 21 a force is exerted downwardly against angle iron 1t) soas to maintain the water wall device 9 in substantially stationaryupright position. The re normally cannot penetrate the wall of watercreated by the rise and fall of the water. The water drops to the groundor floor, wetting the same so as to prevent burning of the floor orfoliage on the ground. The radius of the water wall may be controlled bythe amount of water pressure, the hose size, the orifice size of thecoupling 20 and the size of slot 21. l have found that a standard size2%. inch diameter hose coupling with 80 to 100 pounds of water pressureand a slot 21 having substantially parallel sides about 1%@ inch apartproduces a satisfactory water wall for outdoor use. Under suchconditions the water wall extends as high as about feet above the device9 and approximately feet on each side of the device.

FIG. 5 illustrates the use of my invention in protecting a nearbybuilding 3ft from spread of fire 31 in a building 32, by placing waterwall 29 between the buildings. FIG. 6 shows the use of my invention toprevent the fire in a room 33 from spreading to other sections of theroom by placing water wall 29 between the re 31 and other parts of theroom. As stated, FIG. 7 demonstrates installation of a permanent systemfor protecting a factory, warehouse or other building 34 by isolatingthe fire 31 to a small section or block 28 of the room by placing awater wall 29 on all sides of the fire, and thereby preventing itsspread. As mentioned the spray keeps any inflammable portion of theflooring wet where the water drops so that the fire cannot readilyspread by burning the oor surface.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not confined to thespecific form or method herein illustrated and described, but theprinciples thereof may be embodied in various modications within thescope of the following claim.

I claim:

Apparatus for preventing the spread of fires comprising a substantiallyfiat base, a side member extending vertically from said base, asubstantially flat spray plate secured to said side member and extendingupwardly therefrom, a flat V-shaped member of substantially the samethickness as said side member secured to the face of said spray plateand having arms, the arms of Said V- shaped member extending upwardlyfrom said side mem- 3 ber and forming an angle of substantially 90, anda hose coupling having one end secured to said side member and saidV-shaped member so as to form an arcuate slot between said spray plateand said hose coupling, said spray plate and said V-shaped memberextending substantially beyond said slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l EdgeJuly 26, 1932 Allen Nov. 2, 1937 Thompson May 19, 1942 Paradise Aug. 11,1942 Kleucker Sept. 8, 1942 Cowan Dec. 28, 1943 Trinity et al. June 5,1956 Jelmeland Dec. 23, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS Austria Apr. l0, 1935Germany Sept. 9, 1915 Canada July 7, 1959

